No.

088

March 2014

The Orthodox Parish of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross, Lancaster, U.K.

a monthly magazine & newsletter published by the 'Holy Cross Synodia Press'

The Stavronian

The Parish of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross, belongs to the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland. The Patriarchate of Antioch is third senior of the Orthodox Churches. The Patriarch is His Beatitude John X.

The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26)

TREATING EVERYTHING AS HOLY

I have been sent a lovely new 2014 Orthodox Calendar from Romania - but what do I do with the old one? I find it difficult to throw it away or commit it to the recycling bin with such beautiful icons of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and the saints. So I have cut the Icons out and I scoured the local charity shops for photo frames - I framed them, God blessed the icons at the Divine Liturgy and I gave them to the faithful. When Evangelia cleans the icons in Church with rose water before the Liturgy she always puts the used cotton wool balls next to my cases so that I can take them home and bury them in the garden along with the oil lamp wicks and any remnants of kolliva that may be left after Memorial services. This latter practice, I should add, is quite rare as most people consume the kolliva! People very kindly comment how do you grow such lovely flowers in your tiny garden father? Well, I think the above paragraph answers that question. It is not that I have green fingers it is simply that I add things blessed by God to the soil. When we treat the ordinary and small things with respect and as treasured gifts which have been offered for the glory of God, we begin to have a larger picture of Gods care and His Salvation. In God, nothing is lost; everything is valued, changed, transformed, transfigured. Matthew 10:29-30; Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Fathers will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Likewise, this larger picture of redemption informs our choices as to how we treat Creation. God created the world as He also called us out of nothingness

into being - our origin as our present and our end is bound up with God. Christ, the world, humanity and creation are intimately related. This is the true Light of the world, the photos-frame then into which we mount the old icon and which by Christ is transfigured and made new! Isaiah 43:19; Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Fr. Jonathan

THE BUILDING OF AN ORTHODOX CULTURAL BRIDGE

In March 2002 at the National College Mihai Viteazul from Ploiesti, Romania, where I was a teacher of Religion at that time, I had one of the most beautiful meetings of my life: the meeting with Fr. Jonathan Hemmings, Head of Religion at Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Priest of the Orthodox parish of Holy and Life Giving Cross from Lancaster, within the then Deanery of the United Kingdom and Ireland in the Patriarchy of the Orthodox Antiochian Church. Twelve years have passed from that moment and not only have we kept this

relation but we have also developed a relation of educational, cultural but especially spiritual collaboration as members of our two sister Churches: the Romanian and Antiochian. Every year Fr. Jonathans students continued to come to Romania, together with his Reverence or on their own and in this way, a very beautiful friendships between British and Romanian youth has developed. Every summer we went on pilgrimages to the Romanian monasteries together. The beauty of this relationship, the fellowship of community, has determined other believers, especially young but also adults, to join us too. Later on as the Vicar Priest of Blejoi parish, Romania, I proposed building a social cultural centre under the protection of Birth of Holy Mother and Saint Paraskevi Parish and because of the intelligent opening that the Mayor of Blejoi, Mr. Adrian Dumitru, has manifested, we took the decision to build in this context, a pan-Orthodox Romanian-British cultural centre. This centre would host every summer young British students for exchange experience but also students of IOCS Cambridge to help them to understand better Orthodoxy in a native Orthodox country. In this centre that we intend to build up the catechetical project The Way proposed by Mr. Prof David Frost and His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, where we will give free lectures in English of Biblical and Theological Orthodox interest. Through the conversations with the native British youngsters the Romanians would be able to develop their abilities to speak English better. In this way we come to support the didactic effort of the English teachers in School, by teaching English as a foreign language combining this with theology; maybe one day we would have the pleasant surprise to see those who would pass through this centre as students in Cambridge, why not?!...

Last year meant so much for our relations. In the springtime of 2013 Fr. Jonathan Hemmings came to visit us together with his son Peter Hemmings and in the autumn we had the pleasant visit of Fr. Samir Gholam Archpriest of the Antiochian Cathedral of St George in London with his family. Fr. Jonathan Hemmings and Fr. Samir Gholam were also the guests of the Romanian Orthodox Christian Youth League, the branches of Ploiesti and Mizil. We invite this year, our beloved brothers and sisters of Fr. Jonathans parish, the great majority of them being students of the prestigious University of Lancaster. But also all of those who would like to come with us to visit the Romanian monasteries and the Danube Delta. I do not hide my wish to realize at a certain moment a cultural twining between Lancaster and Blejoi. All our previous experiences and also the support of Blejoi Local Council give us the hope to believe that this dream could become a reality. In the summer of 2014 Revd. Fr. Jonathan Hemmings will visit again our parish and we would go together with our guests to Busteni (Caraiman Monastery in Bucegi Mountains) were we would hold a pastoral and missionary conference as a Romanian-British panOrthodox symposium to which we are going to invite lecturers from IOCS Cambridge and from the Orthodox parishes of the Metropolitan Seat for United Kingdom and Ireland of the Patriarchy of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. Very recently the Archdeanery of Bucharest proclaimed the Order no 203/2014 through which they encourage every parish to implement the spiritual and cultural project The Way to the adult believers of each community. I had the great honour to meet personally one of the contributors Mrs. Gladys Bland and last year we succeeded in publishing in English at Blejoi the book written by Mrs.

Jeanne Harper about the life of Fr. Michael Harper of blessed memory who was also Director of IOCS, but also we published Fountains in the Desert written by Fr. Jonathan Hemmings. This for me was a joy more than a duty. Personally, I have a great affection to my Orthodox England. I am aware that Queen Mary of Romania, was the niece of Queen Victoria of England, and daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, but also the fact that Sir John OGaunt, Duke of Lancaster and founder of the house of Plantagenet, was initially allied in the Crusade of Nikopol against Sultan Bayezid with Mircea the Elder among others, the Voivode of Wallachia and grandfather of Vlad Tepes. So, my dear all, let us build this Orthodox cultural and spiritual bridge between Great Britain and Romania!... Fr. Bogdan-Costin Georgescu

SPIRITUAL TIPS FOR LENT

1. Give more time to God each day through prayer, Church attendance and Confession; give less time to social network sites and no time at all for gossip. 2. Read a good book: the Gospels, the lives of the Saints and Church elders rather than fiction, novels and magazines. 3. Make time for little acts of charity and kindness, visiting the housebound and listening to those going through difficulties. 4. Be a good servant of God by using your creative skills in preparing fasting food recipes (see tips below) to share with others rather than being a slave to fast food. 5. Forgive those who have offended you and ask forgiveness and be reconciled to those whom you have offended. Have a happy, healthy and holy Lent! Fr. Jonathan

FASTING TIPS FOR LENT

When it comes to trying to fast for almost seven weeks, especially when a busy schedule and heavy workload means you cannot just grab a sandwich at your lunch break or microwave a pizza when you get home after a long day, the suggestions below might provide some help and inspiration. When you shop, look for items marked vegan, this means you get something that has no animal-derived ingredients, therefore is suitable Lenten/fasting food.

Where to eat and shop: Filbert's bakery (previously Windy Hill Bakery), 20 King St: olive bread and many other kinds of handmade bread, pies and pasties (e.g. sweet potato, chickpea and spinach) Single Step: for tahini halva, plant-based milks, cheeses and yoghurt, as well as grains, pulses, fruit and veg, olives, spreads, dolma etc. For the website click here. Whale Tail caf: look out for dishes marked V (Vegan), such as the BLT (smoked tofu sandwich). For the website click here. Holland and Barrett: selection of frozen plant-based, meatless foods (sausages, burgers, sandwich fillers etc.) Health N Brew (52 North Road): smaller selection of wholefoods, herbal teas etc. Finally, for frozen seafood (octopus, prawns/shrimp, squid, mussels etc.) look at the Asian supermarkets; websites here and here. The Oriental and Indian restaurants can also be an eating-out option as you can get a selection of rice and noodle dishes and curries that can be fast-friendly. Recipe idea: Lentil and Walnut Pt Spread on your bread, use as a sandwich or jacket potato filler. Ingredients 3/4 cup walnuts 1 cup cooked lentils 1 large onion, chopped 2 tablespoons tamari (or soya sauce) 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 bay leaf olive oil salt + pepper to taste smoked paprika to taste Preparation 1. In a medium frying pan, drizzle about two tablespoons of olive oil and place over medium heat. Add onions and the bay leaf, reduce heat to low and cook until soft and deeply caramelized, about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove bay leaf and season the onions with salt and pepper to taste. 2. Meanwhile, toast walnuts. Place nuts on a baking sheet and into the oven at 200C (gas mark 6) for about 5-8 minutes, shaking the sheet halfway through for even cooking. Remove from oven and let cool. 3. Place lentils, walnuts and onions in a blender with the tamari, lemon juice and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with smoked paprika to your liking. pieceofcake-Euphrosynia

PARISH NEWS
Robert Bultoc kindly took photos of the faithful before our Parish meal on the last Sunday of February. Perhaps it is just as well he did not take the photos after the meal when we were seated and satiated under the weight of the glorious food. To all those who supplied and shared in the

splendid feast for Meatfare a big thank you!

December, in Mantineia, near Tripolis. It was built by one single person! He even painted the walls himself and there are only few icons of Saints, those in the fourth photo and a couple more. Katerina

OLD STAVRONIAN CORNER

Katerina Dokou (O.S. 2005-06) is sending her warm greetings from Greece. She is teaching at a school in Megalopolis. Part of her email and photos are placed below: Dear father, In Arcadia there are far too many monasteries and beautifully built churches in the wildest of places. The landscape here is very different from the North, where I come from and it seems so strange and new to me to see churches on top of the remotest and steepest hills! I'm attaching photos from a unique church (Agia Photine) that I visited in

Andrei, Alla and Masha Ganshyn (O.S. 2006-10) send winter photos of a frozen waterfall at Cornell University, Ithaca, USA, along with their warmest greetings to the Parish.

MAJOR CELEBRATIONS THIS MONTH

1st Mar: St. David of Wales (589) 2nd Mar: Our Holy fathers St Nicholas Planas & St Joachim of Ithaca and Vatopaedi 3rd Mar: Clean Monday; Lent starts today 9th Mar: Sunday of Orthodoxy 17th Mar: St Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland (492)

20th Mar: St Cuthbert the Wonderworker, Bishop of Lindisfarne (687) 25th Mar: The Annunciation of our Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary 30th Mar: St John Climacus the righteous, author of the Divine Ladder of Ascent

31st Mar: St. Innocent, Enlightener of Siberia & Alaska For the lives of Saints please visit the Calendar of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America: www.calendar.goarch.org

Services during March*

Sat. 1st 10:00 am Holy Liturgy in R.C. Fri. 7th 6:30 pm Akathist in R.C. Sat. 8th 10:00 am Holy Liturgy in R.C. Fri. 14th 6:30 pm Akathist in R.C. Sat. 15th 10:00 am Holy Liturgy in R.C. Fri. 21st 6:30 pm Akathist in R.C. Sun. 23rd 10:00 am Veneration of the Holy Cross in Q.R. Fri. 28th 6:30 pm Akathist in R.C. Sun. 30th 10:00 am Holy Liturgy in Q.R. followed by Parish lunch *Help setting up the church is greatly appreciated and starts from 9.15 a.m.

--God cares for everyone. Despair is in effect a lack of faith - St. George Karslides -

For further information please contact:

Father Jonathan Hemmings 67 Sibsey Str., Fairfield, Lancaster, LA1 5DQ Tel: +44 1524 840759, +44 1524 580600 Email: frjah@yahoo.co.uk www.orthodox-lancaster.org.uk www.antiochian-orthodox.co.uk

Sketches are created at the Holy Monastery of The Annunciation of the Theotokos Chios, Greece, courtesy of fr. Theodosios Dendrinos and the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece.